Shootings like the one in New Orleans, in which 19 people were hit, are not epidemic. They are as rare as the other mass shootings in which multiple people are killed or wounded. But that doesn't stop Mr. Noir from saying so, from lumping the mass shooting in NOLA with the every day gun violence in Chicago. It really belongs with the other mass shootings.

The accusation that no one is talking about how to improve ghetto conditions and that we're only interested in CONTROL is ridiculous. But, Colion says this in his slick, fast-talking way as if it's a given. It's not.

Much of his pitch is based on the false foundation that we want gun control AS OPPOSED TO all the other efforts that are called for. The truth is, all the other efforts are already operative. Lots of resources are being invested in education, job creation, drug programs, etc. Mr. Slick is pretending it's an either/or situation. It's not.

The "here's gunny" graphic is cute. But the lie behind it is not. It says gun control people believe an inanimate object talks to ghetto kids telling them to commit violence. This is the "blame the gun" lie, which when it comes to presentation, Colion Noir has no peer.

The truth is, gun control folks, like all thinking people, understand that GUN AVAILABILITY is the problem. Gun availability to unfit and dangerous people. And blame for this can be placed squarely at the feet of the gun-rights advocates like Noir. They fight for lax gun laws that guarantee the tremendous gun flow from lawful gun ownership to criminal possession. And the gun manufacturers are laughing all the way to the bank.

To sum up, Colion Noir is somewhat convincing but rather superficial con-man. If he had real substance to his arguments he wouldn't have to resort to lies like the gun control folks "blame the gun," and lies like the gun control folks "aren't concerned about ghetto violence."

Several studies have linked gun ownership to the risk of suicide by firearm, according to Dr. Matthew Miller, the new study's lead author from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

But some critics question whether people living in states where lots of residents own guns are inherently more suicidal than those who live in places where ownership is less common.

To address that critique, Miller and his colleagues gathered state-by-state data on gun ownership, suicide attempts and suicide deaths from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health surveys.

They compared the 16 states with the highest gun ownership rates to the six states with the lowest rates. Both of those groups included about 62 million people.

In the high gun ownership group, 51 percent of adults lived in a household with firearms, versus 15 percent of adults in the low gun ownership group.

There were about 7,300 firearm suicides in the states with the most guns - including Alabama, Montana and West Virginia - in 2008 to 2009, according to findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

That compared to 1,700 suicides by gun in the low ownership states, such as Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York.

The number of non-gun suicides in the two sets of states was similar, at about 4,200 and 4,300, respectively. What's more, state-wide rates of suicide attempts did not differ based on levels of household gun ownership.

She was struck in the right leg near the knee before the bullet exited the right leg, entered the left leg below the knee and exited, the release stated.

Tammy Clark was taken to the Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County by Bassett Rescue Squad, and subsequently transferred to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Her injuries did not appear to be life threatening, the release stated.

James Clark was charged with a misdemeanor count of reckless handling of a firearm and a felony count of unlawfully discharging a firearm within an occupied dwelling. He was released on an unsecured bond.

In order to set up his wild comparison to Hitler, he put false words into the mouths of animal-rights activists. They do not condone shooting any of the other animals he named.

But, the best part of his interview is when he told us the short answer for why he shoots elephants.

“The short answer is because hungry people eat them and because I’m a hunter,” he said. “You know, I’m not an elephant hunter. I’m a hunter. I hunt all things.”

It all about the hungry people, or about animal conservation, or some other selfless humanitarian pursuit. Why do these guys lack the honesty to say it like it is? They like to shoot living things, period. They get a thrill out of it that's impossible to replicate in any other activity. The reason they shy away from that admission is because even they suspect it's sick.What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The National Rifle Association is wading into the Virginia governor’s race with a six-figure ad campaign, potentially reviving a debate over gun issues that has been mostly dormant in the contest.

Beginning Monday, the group will begin airing $500,000 worth of statewide television and online ads hitting Democrat Terry McAuliffe for his firearms stances, according to NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam. The campaign is designed to benefit Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R), a longtime gun rights advocate who has lagged behind McAuliffe on the financial front and can use the help on the airwaves.

McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin used the news to portray Cuccinelli as out of step with Virginia voters on gun laws.

He added that Cuccinelli had shown “career-long opposition to common-sense measures that would keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.”

Gun rights supporters have long outnumbered foes in Richmond, but there have been signs in recent years, as Virginia has become a more purple state, that the issue has lost some of its potency. Last year, Timothy M. Kaine (D) beat George Allen (R) in a high-profile Senate race despite Kaine’s “F” grade from the NRA and Allen’s “A.”

“I have called for universal background checks,” McAuliffe said. “My opponent doesn’t support that. I’m a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I’m a hunter. I own guns. . . . There are certain individuals who just should not own a gun. There are individuals that have mental illness. I think this is such a critical issue for us. . . . As governor, I’m gonna push. Most importantly, we need universal background checks for everyone.”

The National Rifle Association announced on Thursday that Friends of NRA, a grassroots fundraising program, had raised $51 million in 2013, exceeding the total amount raised 2012 by $1 million.

“The program’s growth has been even throughout the country, with average net per event rising $11,000 to nearly $41,000,” the NRA said in a statement. “Year-end forecasts have Friends of NRA generating at least $65 million, a 30 percent increase over 2012.”

Friends of NRA holds banquets across the country to raise money for the NRA Foundation, which supports sport-shooting programs. The grassroots operation has only completed 80 percent of its fundraising events to date.

Friday, September 27, 2013

In a letter to a friend dated July 31, 1786, Benjamin Franklin wrote of lead's "mischievous" effects on workers. He cited his own encounters with the heavy metal 60 years earlier at a printing press and bemoaned how unsuspecting plumbers, painters and other professionals continued to be exposed and harmed.

"You will observe with concern," Franklin concluded the letter, "how long a useful truth be known, and exist, before it is generally received and practiced on."

Health experts echo Franklin's laments today. They say scores of working adults continue to be exposed to high levels of lead, including recent cases at indoor gun ranges, as regulations lag decades behind knowledge of the metal's health hazards and budget cuts further hamper efforts to prevent poisonings.

It turns out the danger is not from the lead bullets melting into the ground and getting into the drinking water, like the lying pro-gun fanatics said is not really a danger, it's the lead dust that gets into the air from the lead projectiles smashing into their backdrop.

The air in indoor shooting ranges is poison, especially for the workers who breathe it day in and day out.

According to the new poll, 57 percent of Americans approve of Starbucks' new policy asking that gun owners not carry weapons into its stores, even in states with laws permitting open carry. Thirty-two percent disapprove.

The GazetteAt 17, Macyo January was too young to purchase a firearm. But according to police, that didn't keep him from stealing them.

Investigators on Wednesday said the gun used to kill Fort Carson Staff Sgt. David Dunlap and his wife Whitney Butler on Jan. 14 had been stolen from a nearby home a month earlier as part of a slew of burglaries allegedly committed by January.

The weapon - a Walther .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol - was taken Dec. 6 during a burglary, a quarter mile from where the newlyweds were slain by an intruder, Colorado Springs police detective Donald Chagnon testified on the second day of a multi-day hearing.

Police previously testified Dunlap and Butler were killed one at a time, after coming home from their respective jobs to check on a burglar alarm reported by ADT, their home security provider.

Whitney Butler and David Dunlap. (Facebook)

Butler and Dunlap each died of a single gunshot wound in what prosecutor Reggie Short described Wednesday as an "execution-style attack."

The gun evidence - made public for the first time Wednesday - came on a day of testimony in which El Paso County District Judge Deborah Grohs ruled that prosecutors have enough evidence to try January in the murders. The judge ruled that January also will face trial in a series of previously unsolved burglaries, including a disturbing crime in which a 71-year-old woman was beaten and robbed in her home twice in four months. January also is charged with a daytime burglary involving an assault on a 15-year-old girl home sick from school.

He was ordered held without bond.

Still to be decided is an issue that could have significant bearing on January's sentence, should he be convicted of the crimes.

January, who was 17 at the time of the killings, was charged as an adult in District Court where, if convicted, he faces a life sentence with the chance of parole after 40 years. Prosecutors fear that a transfer to Juvenile Court could shave years from his sentence.

Grohs is expected to decide the issue Thursday, when testimony is expected to conclude.

January, his legs shackled, sat impassively at the defense table during the hearing. He didn't turn to acknowledge those in the gallery, including his grandparents and relatives of the slain couple.

His first criminal conviction came at age 14, and after further disciplinary problems January landed in a series of custodial programs, including a substance abuse treatment center, a wilderness program designed to address "antisocial thinking," and ultimately a group home in Stratmoor Valley from which he escaped in September 2012, according to testimony.

January was adopted by his grandmother at a young age after his mother's parental rights were terminated because of "drug and alcohol issues," Cheney said. She also supervised probationary sentences against January's younger brother and older sister, she said.

Testimony is expected to continue at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

I usually oppose trying youthful offenders as adults, but in this case I'm not so sure. To do so is tantamount to giving up on the kid in the hope of locking him up and throwing away the key. In this case that might just be the best option.

But, getting back to one of our favorite themes, do you think the owner of the gun, the victim of the theft by January has no part in this? Isn't it fair to inquire how the gun was stored and if the theft could have been prevented?

Isn't the fact that there are bad boys out there like Macyo January all the more reason why gun owners must be more responsible in the way they store their firearms at home?

Authorities have identified two people who were shooting targets with rifles in a yard off Bevis Road Wednesday night when an 18-year-old man was shot in the foot.

As of early Thursday morning, victim Kelley Harlow was still in an area hospital awaiting the removal of the bullet that pierced the wall of his single-wide mobile home and travelled through a bookcase before lodging in his right foot.

Investigators returned to the scene Thursday to determine whether any more bullets struck the home or any other areas outside the pile of dirt that the men were using as a firing berm.

Determining that may help officials decide, if one of the identified men is ultimately held responsible, whether a charge of criminal negligence is appropriate in the case or whether a lone bullet ricocheted out of the dirt pile in a fluke of circumstance that might not warrant a charge.

The bullet itself, once removed from the victim, may ultimately help officials determine whether one of the identified men or someone else is responsible.

The men who were identified had been shooting in an area roughly 500 to 600 yards from the Harlow home.

This is not the first time that a stray bullet has injured someone in Jackson County. Some time back, a man was struck by a bullet while he sat in a funeral procession. Authorities determined that someone who was squirrel hunting fired the shot which unintentionally struck the victim in that case.

Law enforcement officials urge people to use extreme caution when using firearms in recreational pursuits.

I suppose in gun-friendly Florida, having a shooting area so close to private residences is no big deal. When people are shot it's no one's fault.

The mayor of Flippin says he won't resign his post, despite a recent incident in which he accidentally shot out a window in City Hall.

At a city council meeting this week, Mayor J.J. Hudson said he wouldn't step down. Councilwoman Stacie Hopper requested Hudson's resignation, saying she'd been contacted by several residents who wanted Hudson to step down.

Hudson accidentally discharged a rifle while visiting the police chief's office in City Hall earlier this month. No one was injured, though the incident left a baseball-sized hole in an office window.

Hopper says "there's no reason" the mayor should have fired a gun in City Hall. Hudson responded that he wouldn't resign and said the city is moving forward from its problems.

Interestingly, this is not the first time Mayor Hudson has been asked to step down. Earlier this year he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drunk driving. But he didn't blow positive for alcohol, it was hydrocodone he was abusing. That makes his honor a junkie.

And there's more:

Hudson pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a separate incident in 2011 after he was accused of getting into a fight with a 70-year-old man.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call about 8:00 Wednesday night at the McDonald's near Tyndall Parkway and Cherry Street. When deputies got there, a crowd of people was standing around Charlie Hutchison, 18, of Tallahassee. Hutchison, who was holding his abdomen, said he accidentally shot himself with a .38 revolver.

About a minute later, Hutchison’s girlfriend, Skye Hunter, 18, of Port St. Joe, and his younger brother, ran over to the scene. When a deputy asked Hunter about the gun, she said she threw it into some nearby woods because she was scared. Hunter claimed she thought it was illegal to be in possession of a gun in Florida.

Deputies then questioned Hutchison’s younger brother. He said they had just eaten at McDonald’s. After getting back in the car, he says Charlie reached under the front passenger seat, pulled out a gun and was trying to de-cock it and put the gun in his waistband at the same time. When the gun went off, he says Charlie opened the door and fell out.

A deputy and his K9 partner tracked down the gun in the woods. The .38 caliber, snub-nose, 5 shot revolver had five shell casings in it. One of them was empty. The Sheriff’s Office ran the serial number on the gun. It was reported stolen in Indiana back in 2008.

Deputies noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car. They searched the car and found a digital scale and marijuana grinder in a pink bag, along with a glass bong.

During questioning at the Sheriff’s Office substation in Callaway, Hunter said they three of them had smoked marijuana together. After Hutchison accidentally shot himself, she says he told her to grab the gun and throw it in the woods.

Brandon Holt, 6, pictured here, was shot and killed in April when his 4-year-old neighbor allegedly picked up a rifle belonging to his father, Anthony Senatore, 33, of Toms River. Senatore was indicted Wednesday on six counts of child endangerment. (Saed Hindash/The Star-Ledger)nj dot com further to our earlier report

The father of a 4-year-old Toms River boy who allegedly shot and killed his 6-year-old friend while the two were playing earlier this year was indicted today on six counts of child endangerment, prosecutors said.

An Ocean County grand jury returned the indictment against Anthony Senatore, 33, acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain said in a statement.

On April 8, Brandon Holt was playing "pretend shooting" with Senatore’s 4-year-old son, neighbors and prosecutors have said.

Senatore’s little boy ran into his parents’ bedroom and emerged moments later with a .22-caliber rifle. He went outside where Brandon was sitting in a golf cart.

The rifle, authorities said, fired. Brandon was shot in the head.

The boy’s father was arrested the following month, charged with endangering the welfare of a minor. The indictment brought no new charges. Senatore faces five counts of second-degree child endangerment, one count of third-degree child endangerment and a disorderly persons offense.

The charges allege that in addition to the loaded .22 caliber rifle used to fire the fatal shot, a Stevens 12-gauge shotgun, two Harrington & Richardson shotguns and a Remington 12-gauge shotgun were all found unsecured, in close proximity to ammunition and accessible to Senatore’s children, ages 12, 8 and 4.

Under New Jersey law, residents do not need to register rifles but do need a gun purchaser’s identification card to buy them.

Anyone who knows that a child younger than 16 could gain access to a loaded firearm in the home can be charged with a disorderly persons offense if they fail to secure the weapon or install a trigger lock.

According to a police report distributed by the Farmville Police Department, the act occurred around 8 p.m. and was later described as an “accidental shooting.”

In an email interview, Richardson gave the details on the happening. He stated that on Sunday, Sept. 15, he arrived at Battle’s home at 504 High Street around 7:50 p.m. to pick up a handgun that he left the previous night.

The handgun was a Springfield XD sub- compact .40 caliber handgun.

Richardson noted that he left his truck at another house and decided to leave the handgun in Battle’s room to avoid having it stolen from his truck.

“Upon my arrival to Kathleen's house on Sunday night, I realized that the handgun was still loaded and that I should unload it in order to make it safe,” Richardson said.

Richardson described unloading the gun, and stated, “Battle was standing close to me.”

Describing the process, Richardson said he dropped the magazine out of the gun, then grabbed the slide of the gun and pushed it back in order to eject the bullet.

“As soon as I pushed the slide, the gun went off in my hand. My hand was immediately burnt by the explosion coming from the barrel (referred to as powder burn), and then I turned towards Kathleen and realized that the bullet had struck her in the leg,” Richardson said.

Richardson stated that he has never been previously charged with any criminal offense of any sort, including misdemeanors and felonies.

“I will also say that I have over 12 years of experience when using and handling guns,” Richardson stated.

As reported from the Sept. 18 issue of The Rotunda, Richardson was charged with Reckless Handling of a Firearm and was released pending a court appearance in Prince Edward County General District Court on Sept. 30 at 9 a.m.

Reckless Handling of a Firearm is classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor, according to the Virginia General Assembly Legislative Information System website. The website further details that the authorized punishment for a Class 1 misdemeanor is “confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.”

He added, “Almost any one that knows me will confirm that I am responsible and knowledgeable when it comes to all types of firearms and firearm safety. There is such [a] thing as an accidental discharge of a weapon, and it is extremely unfortunate that this happened.”

Just like our favorite pro-gun commenters, young Jacob cannot bring himself to take responsibility for his individual negligence. Even if the gun spontaneously exploded in his hand, which he seems to be saying, he was pointing it at the girl. Of course he didn't say a single word about his lousy and negligent muzzle control at the time of the supposed accident.

As we mentioned when we posted about this at the time of the incident, he has already been charged with the lesser of two possible crimes, one which will allow him to continue being the negligent danger to society that he always has been, all the time insisting he isn't and that anything which goes wrong is not his fault.

Women in the United States earn an average of 77 cents for every dollar that men make, face many barriers to reproductive health care and are significantly underrepresented in leadership roles. But the worst state for women by far is Louisiana, according to a state-by-state examination of these issues released Wednesday by the Center for American Progress.

In terms of economic security, health and leadership representation, the analysis ratesLouisiana the lowest. Full-time working women in Louisiana earn only 67 percent of what men earn, on average, and more than one in five women and girls in Louisiana are currently living in poverty.

Only 12 percent of Louisiana's congressional seats are held by women, and the state has one of the top 10 worst maternal mortality rates in the country. There is only one OB-GYN for every 13,136 women in Louisiana, and nearly 20 percent of non-elderly women in the state are uninsured. Louisiana also requires an ultrasound, waiting period and counseling session before a woman can have an abortion.

ReutersThere are no signs that Alexis, 34, was targeting anybody in the September 16 shooting at the Navy Yard in southeast Washington, said Valerie Parlave, the FBI assistant director in charge of the Washington field office.

"We have found relevant communications on his electronic media, which referenced the delusional belief that he was being controlled or influenced by extremely low frequency electromagnetic waves for the past three months," Parlave told a news conference.

Surveillance video released by the FBI showed Alexis driving a rented blue Toyota Prius into a Navy Yard parking garage shortly before 8 a.m. Carrying a backpack, he then entered the Naval Sea Systems Command building, site of the shootings, through a door.

The brief video also shows Alexis, armed with a Remington shotgun and wearing dark clothing, descending a stairway and walking along corridors in a crouch position, weapon held at the ready.

People can be glimpsed at the end of one corridor. Alexis peeks around corners and, at one point, aims the shotgun into a room but does not fire.

Parlave said Alexis, a government technology contractor, had in his possession the shotgun, which had a sawed-off barrel and stock, and a pistol he obtained during the shooting.

"MY ELF WEAPON"

Scratched into the shotgun were the phrases, "End to the torment," "Not what y'all say," "Better off this way" and "My ELF weapon," photos released by the FBI showed. "ELF" is believed to stand for "extremely low frequency."

I guess this settles the question of whether or not he made a rational and calculated choice to target the Navy Yard because of its gun-free status. I suppose some will still claim this.

One thing that concerns me is how many other gun owners are being controlled by these brain waves.

A Missouri House staffer reportedly left a loaded gun in a public restroom in the state Capitol last week.

According to a Capitol Police incident report, a Kahr CM9 9mm pistol – later claimed by House Speaker Tim Jones’ legislative assistant Dave Evans – was found on top of the toilet paper dispenser in a men's restroom in the Capitol basement Friday. The incident report states that the gun “was fully loaded with one round in the chamber and six rounds in the magazine.”

Capitol police returned the gun to Evans after Jones’ secretary Lisa Bondurant called to report that it was misplaced. The incident report states that Evans didn't have paperwork for the gun with him, but he "offered a very detailed description of the weapon and the holster (and) was able to identify the weapon by the brand, caliber, color, size, the holster and the ammunition count and type that was in the weapon."

Evans did not immediately respond to a call from the Post-Dispatch on Monday.

In theory, such a law would have applied to someone like Aaron Alexis, the gunman who killed 12 in shooting rampage last week at the Washington Navy Yard. The 34-year-old U.S. Navy veteran had a history of run-ins with the law and gun violence.

On all gun safety issues the "second amendment" people refuse to give an inch while the gun safety people try to get minor concessions. Wrong question. The question that should be asked is: Should we repeal the Second Amendment? Not a single candidate or current office holder is asking this question, so I will.

The Second Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1791, 222 years ago. At that time, the arms people had the right to bear were either a flintlock musket or a flintlock pistol that took forever to re-load. Today an "arm" can be a 100 shot semi-automatic rifle that can reload in seconds with kits available to convert it into a machine gun.

Why not repeal this outmoded amendment now? We can replace it with an amendment that makes sense in the twenty-first century. We don't have to ban guns, just set sane regulations, without the confused wording of the Second Amendment. Repealing an amendment isn't easy but we repealed the eighteenth amendment.

What makes perfect sense to me is this: The 2nd Amendment was enacted when the "people had the right to bear eithera flintlock musket or a flintlock pistol that took forever to re-load. Today an "arm" can be a 100 shot semi-automatic rifle"

I challenge any pro-gun advocate to argue against that logic without referring to the 1st Amendment.

OpEdNewsIn the wake of mass shootings like those that occurred at Newtown, Aurora, and now the D.C. Naval Yard, the pro-gun lobby reminds us that the 2nd Amendment was created as a safeguard so that ordinary citizens can protect themselves from a tyrannical government. This rationale, however, is based on myth and ignores the basic facts surrounding the creation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Although many of the founders waxed poetic about gun ownership, the fact remains that this Constitution of ours was created with incidents of armed insurrection as bookends. It was an angry group of farmers with guns threatening the government of Massachusetts in 1786 that spurned the writing of the Constitution and a similar incident in 1791 reaffirmed the new government's power in suppressing a mob of angry people with guns. In both cases, the angry groups in question were asserting their rights in trying to overthrow or force a change with what they saw as a tyrannical government. Therefore, the 2nd Amendment was not created to protect peoples' rights to overthrow the government, but instead was created to protect the government from those fearful elements of society at the time: farmers with guns in the West, Indians with guns on the frontier and slaves with guns in the south. A "well-regulated" militia was more for protecting the government from "rabble" than it was in giving citizens the right to protect themselves from tyranny.

Shown, at right, is a screen shot of the Senate web entry on the 2nd Amendment. The controversial passage is highlighted.REUTERS/SENATE.GOVFox

Does the Second Amendment guarantee an individual right to own guns?

The Supreme Court has ruled that it does. But you might be confused if you visit theofficial Senate web page on the Constitution, which says only: "Whether this provision protects the individual's right to own firearms or whether it deals only with the collective right of the people to arm and maintain a militia has long been debated."

That particular wording was posted on the Senate website in 2009, based on archived web pages at The Internet Archive. However, that's one year after the Supreme Court ruled: "The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense."

Given the court ruling, critics say the Senate site's administrators are just wrong.